Coach who almost quit Super Rugby is banking on youth for opening fixture - with one major exception
Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels admits he considered walking away from the game after the bitter disappointment of last Super Rugby season.
He chose to reinvent himself as a coach instead.
The Rebels were second on the ladder halfway through last season after winning six of their opening eight games but faded badly to finish 11th and miss a maiden finals berth.
After his second season at the helm it cut so deep Wessels questioned whether he wanted to keep coaching.
But after sitting on the beach for 10 days downing a few beers, Wessels decided to change the way he did his “dream job”.
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“I’ve done a bit of a 180 in my coaching,” Wessels said on Thursday.
“I wasn’t enjoying myself at the end of last season. I had a couple of moments where I wondered whether this is what I wanted to be doing.
“Australian rugby is quite a tough place to be because absolutely everything you do is criticised all the time and we don’t do ourselves any favours with all the macro things that happen in the game.”
South African-born Wessels said getting away from the game in the off-season provided clarity.
“As an inexperienced coach, I realised I’d been suckered into all sorts of things I wasn’t enjoying doing, I was doing a lot of commercial things,” Wessels said.
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“I’d lost a little bit of connection with the players and that was the thing that really gives me joy in my coaching, helping make individual players better.
“This year I’ve recalibrated all of that and decided to do the things I enjoy and that brought me into coaching in the first place, which is being much more engaged with the team.
“This is my dream job. So when you have some time off and can step away from it a little bit you think ‘Hang on a second, I totally lost focus in what I actually enjoy in the game’.”
The Rebels finished last on the table the season before Wessels arrived in 2018 and the coach said it was easy to forget the strides they’ve made.
@HurricanesRugby have named their strongest possible side for the battle of the natural disasters ??https://t.co/zErQT8zhSs #SuperRugby #STOvHUR
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He believes lack of depth has cost them finals appearances and made recruiting experience a priority in the-season.
“I feel like the team is further down the road than we were this time last year, it’s amazing to have a bit of continuity and what a difference that makes,” Wessels said.
“The average caps in the match-day 23 is about 45 which is a huge step forward in experience.
“We’ve gone from a team in 2017 that scored 21 tries to last year scoring 56.
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“This year we’ve also spent a lot more time on our defence than we have in previous years.”
Wessels has plenty of experience but also named eight debutants in match squad to face the Sunwolves in their season opener in Tokyo on Saturday.
A new era will begin for the Rebels following the departure of halves pairing Will Genia and Quade Cooper.
Fijian international Frank Lomani will replace Genia and will be joined in the backline by Waratahs recruit and former Australian under-20 captain Andrew Kellaway. Experienced operator Matt To’omua will take the reins at first five.
Rebels: Fereti Sa’aga, Anaru Rangi, Jermaine Ainsley, Ross Haylett-Petty, Matt Philip, Angus Cottrell, Rob Leota, Isi Naisarani, Frank Lomani, Matt To’omua, Andrew Kellaway, Bily Meakes, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, Dane Haylett-Petty. Reserves: Steve Misa, Cameron Orr, Ruan Smith, Luke Jones, Michael Wells, Richard Hardwick, Theo Strang, Andrew Deegan.
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments